Unlikely Pairing
by DorkPangs
Summary: Set in the sixth year, the Care of Magical Creatures class is going into the Forbidden Forest on a gloomy day. Draco isn’t paying attention, and ends up with Hermione Granger as his ‘buddy’. They end up arguing so much, they fall behind the class… DMHG


**Unlikely Pairing**

_By DorkPangs_ (a.k.a. Green-Beauty)

**Summary:** Set in the sixth year, the Care of Magical Creatures class is going into the Forbidden Forest on a day likely to rain any moment. Draco isn't paying attention, and ends up in an unlikely pairing with Hermione Granger as his 'buddy'. They end up arguing so much, they fall behind the class… and something is watching them. The situation gets worse as they become wandless and pursued. (HG/DM)

**A/N:** Boy, I wish I owned Draco… but seeing as all HP characters belong to J. K. Rowling, I obviously can't. This was done in response to EternalOphelia's Draco/Hermione Challenge: "Who's Watching Me?" Originally done as a one-shot… may yet gain a sister chapter… not sure, yet.

* * *

It was an overcast day, seeming bound to rain any minute. The class was out on the grounds near the Forbidden Forest, everyone paying apt attention to what their instructor was saying. Everyone, that is, except a pale boy leaning against a tree. His short blond hair was slicked back past his furrowed brow. One would say he was good-looking if he hadn't such a sour disposition.

Suddenly, Draco Malfoy glanced up as he caught the words of his Care of Magical Creatures instructor. "—an' be careful not to lose yer buddy. The Forbidden Forest is no place to fool around."

If possible, the boy's face seemed to go even whiter. He looked about to see his classmates gather next to one another in pairs. He looked back to his instructor, who was gathering large bundles of rope in his giant hands. Rubeus Hagrid the groundskeeper was renowned for his penchant for wild and dangerous creatures; Draco had been victim to 'Professor' Hagrid's creatures before. Heaving a sigh, the boy shoved away from the tree to ask who his 'buddy' was, but stopped suddenly as he was approached by a girl.

"Oh, please tell me _you _aren't my partner," Draco said roughly, sneering at her.

Hermione Granger wasn't the prettiest girl, but Draco would be hard put to say she wasn't the smartest. He'd also be hard put to say she wasn't scary when she gave him that icy glare with those brown eyes of hers.

Putting her hands on her hips, Hermione said, "Every Gryffindor is paired with a Slytherin, or did you not hear? Apparently, I'm the only one Hagrid thinks can control you."

Draco sniggered. "That's a laugh. I doubt you could handle a Flobberworm."

"Well, I know I can handle a ferret."

At this, the boy quieted immediately, his eyes narrowing at her. Draco had been magicked into a ferret his fourth year and none of the Gryffindors let him forget it.

"Like you're one to talk, Beaver." In his first year, Hermione had been hit by one of his stray spells while he had dueled with Harry Potter, making her teeth grow three times their natural size, and they had been big to begin with.

Before she could retort, Draco pushed past her. "Sir, you can't pair me up with… that!" he complained to the groundskeeper, pointing to Hermione with emphasis.

"No chagin'. Besides, we're 'bout to go in the Forest. We can't wait too long, or it'll be too late. Now go walk with yer buddy, Malfoy." There was satisfaction in the instructor's tone, and confidence in his bearing.

Draco sputtered, but was ignored as Hagrid called to the rest of the class, "Alrigh', we're headin' in. Stick close to yer buddy, and follow behind me."

Everyone froze in hesitation as Hagrid tromped through the first couple of bushes onto a path, but the class burst into movement once Harry Potter stomped off after him, Pansy Parkinson complaining loudly as she followed her partner.

Draco and Hermione was the last pair to go through the bushes, mostly because they had been the furthest away from the trail. Hermione went through, but stopped when she didn't hear Draco follow.

"What's wrong with you? You scared?" Hermione taunted.

"I'm not scared. You don't know what kind of parasites could be on those bushes," he said to her roughly, pushing past the bushes and her to follow a pair in front of them.

Draco saw a redheaded boy turn away from him suddenly, as if he had been watching. "Your Weasel is concerned, Mudblood. You should tell him I wouldn't demean myself with you if my life depended on it."

"Somehow I doubt that's what he's worried about," she said coolly, keeping pace with him.

Draco glanced over at her. A year ago, Hermione would have taken offense to him making fun of her or Ron Weasley, but now that they were together, she seemed to think herself above him. Draco grinded his teeth as he watched her look at their surroundings, turning away when she looked towards him. He stared straight ahead, noting she was watching him out of the corner of his eye.

He looked at her, "Something on my face?"

"No, I thought I saw something in the trees, but it was just an owl," she said, turning away to watch the backs of the pair several feet ahead of them.

They walked together in silence. Normally, Draco would be happy to keep quiet, but Ronald Weasley kept turning around to look at them. Suddenly, he asked, "Why are you with him?"

"What?" Hermione asked, distracted.

"Weasley. What do you see in him?" Draco pursued, shrugging his shoulders.

Hermione abruptly halted, and Draco stopped with her. "Why do you care?"

"I don't. I just never thought you two would get together, especially after he was with that Brown girl."

Hermione bristled at Lavender's name. "Well, I never would've pictured you with Pansy Parkinson, either."

At Pansy's name, Draco cringed. They were 'together', alright; or Pansy thought they were, anyways. Still, Draco couldn't let Hermione get the better of him. "Yeah, well at least she's not as dumb as Weasley."

"Well, at least he doesn't look like a pug!"

"Well, at least she knows what she wants. Weasel hadn't a clue for six years, and probably still doesn't!"

"Shut up!" she yelled at him, looking about.

Draco smirked, thinking he had won that battle. "Yeah? And how are—"

Hermione cut him off, "No, shut up! Do you see the class anywhere? Or hear them?"

This time, Draco looked around too. They could hardly see the sky through the branches, and nothing but their breathing could be heard. "It's too quiet."

This seemed to have occurred to Hermione as well; she had taken out her wand. "C'mon, the others couldn't have gotten too far ahead."

Draco pulled out his wand, too, and they ran along the path. They could both see that about a half-mile along the path, it turned out of sight, trees looming on either side of them. They paced each other, and Hermione glanced at him.

"This is all your fault, you know," she said, clearly irritated.

Draco scoffed, "You were the one that stopped walking."

"Well, if you hadn't asked such personal questions—"

Draco cut her off, "That still doesn't take away from the fact you had stopped."

"Well, you stopped, too."

"What was I going to do? Leave you behind?"

"Oh, as if that thought actually crossed your mind," Hermione scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Draco sneered. "True; I was more worried I'd lose house points if I left you behind. I know that idiot favors you lot."

"Hagrid isn't an idiot! Gawd, it's hard to believe you have any friends at all!"

However, Draco was saved from retorting by what they saw just around the bend. The trail was empty for as far as they could see, and it forked in three different directions, no distinct footsteps or anything to show which path the class had taken. Hermione looked stressed, and Draco watched her amusedly as bent down to look at the ground.

"Do you even know how to track?" he asked her mockingly.

She sighed heavily, and opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to change her mind and muttered, "…No, but it's better than just taking a random path."

Draco bent down to help look, though he would rather die than admit that to her. "Yeah, well—"

However, Hermione put a finger to his lips, looking about worriedly. "Something's following us."

"What?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"C'mon, get up," Hermione whispered as she jumped up, and began to move down the center path.

"Wait, we don't know which way to go," he called after her, staggering up to follow.

"I thought I saw something earlier, but I wasn't worried since we were in a group. Now, I heard a twig break, and we're alone in the Forbidden Forrest. More like than not, it's dangerous, and we're probably the noisiest meal it's ever seen."

"You sure you weren't just hearing things?"

"I'm telling you, something is watching us."

"Then why hasn't it attacked us?"

"It's probably watching us because it's not sure if we're dangerous or not."

Draco suddenly stopped and turned around. He flourished his wand before him, "Then let's show it how dangerous we are."

Hermione also stopped, and then slapped her forehead as something occurred to her. "Of course, why didn't I think of it before!" However, she wasn't preparing a dueling stance, but began to wave her wand towards the sky.

Suddenly, her wand was no longer in her hand, however. It had flipped out of her hand, and was cast further down the path. Hermione stared at it in bewilderment. Draco, giving a Hermione a look, walked over to where it landed.

As he reached it, however, he issued a little yell and picked up Hermione's wand. It had been pierced by an arrow.

"Run!" He called before him, taking Hermione by the arm as they ran down the path.

They could hear creatures all about them screeching, see their scaly bodies in flashes between the forestry; they were surrounded. And very quickly, it got worse: the path they had chosen ended in a steep ravine. As they reached the end, Draco turned about to face their pursuers and his eyes widened as two of the creatures jumped out at him. The top of their heads came to Draco's chest and looked like a crossed between a lizard and a goblin. They stood on two thin legs and were not pretty at all with orange scaly wet-looking skin, a lizard-shaped head, spikes along their spines, clad in loincloths and thin arms with gecko-like fingers wielding spears.

"Looks like we found the Salamen," Hermione muttered as Draco held out an arm in front of her.

He ignored her comment and pushed her behind him as he raised his wand. However, before he could cast a spell, Hermione gasped and pulled him back; an arrow thudded into a trunk where Draco had been. Draco, teetering on his feet, saw one of the Salamen lunge out with his spear at Hermione's back. Draco grabbed her shoulders and twirled them around so his back was to the creatures. Still clutching to one another, they stumbled away from the Salamen and went down the steep ravine, which was littered with bushes and rocks, thick trees at its bottom. Draco tried to stop their wild tumble while Hermione clutched tightly to the front of his robes as they rolled down the hill.

Draco tried his best to clutch at rocks and branches to slow their descent, but the most effective thing was the thick trunk his back slammed into. Hermione had landed face first into his chest, and they both groaned out in pain from their various hurts. The tree grew at an angle from the ravine, so Draco was practically laying on the trunk with Hermione sprawled across him. If they rolled over, they would continue down to the bottom of the ravine, which was at least another good eight meters down.

"Well, that was a hell of a way to travel," Draco wheezed. It was dark at the edges of his sight, and he was sure he was seeing double.

Hermione just groaned against his chest in response, and they lay there awhile, Hermione with her head against his chest and Draco with an arm draped across her. Soon, however, Hermione pulled up and looked around.

"Well, this doesn't look good," she stated, moving to sit on the trunk, one leg on each side of it, and off of Draco.

"And the award for understatement goes to…" Draco muttered, trying to sit up, but gave up, looking dizzy.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm peachy. The world just spins far too much for my liking. You, however, look terrible."

Hermione looked at herself; there was dirt all over her robes, several bruises showing on her arms when she pulled up her sleeves, and leaves were stuck in her hair. She looked at him, who looked similar, except had a gash above his eye, seeping down the side of his face. Apparently, when they had landed in a bush further up it had lashed him with its sharp branches.

"Yeah, but you look worse. You're bleeding."

"I am?" Draco's face went pale, hand going up to his dirty face.

Hermione sighed heavily, and she untucked the rest of her shirt that hadn't already come free of her knee-length skirt on the way down. Using a rip in her shirt as leverage, she tore a long strip off the bottom of her soft pink shirt, twisting and turning to try to make the tear even all around her.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, worry in his voice.

Pulling of the last of the strip, she responded, "Well, we can't just let it bleed. C'mon, sit up."

He looked at the strip in her hands, then at her exposed pale stomach. His cheeks turning pink, he tried to force himself up, but his back screamed in protest, and he lay back again, face gone pale with pain.

"What's wrong?"

"My back, I can't move without pain. Just give me the bandage," Draco said, holding out his hand.

"You won't be able to put it on right," but Hermione gave it to him anyways. Draco took the strip and wrapped it about his head, looking up at the sky in concentration.

"Where's your wand?" Hermione asked suddenly.

Draco finished making a knot over where he thought the wound was. "I don't know… I had it, then we fell over… I might have dropped it, best-case scenario." Draco put a hand in his hair, feeling hopeless.

Hermione heaved a sigh. "And broken it, worst-case scenario. Mine's already broken, so it's useless…" she had pulled out her own wand from her robes, staring accusingly at the arrow impaling it before she stuffed it back in her pocket.

"You see those creatures anywhere?" Draco asked, looking over at her.

Hermione searched the hilltop above them and the ground below them. Then she shook her head with all it bushy hair, "No, but I doubt they'd be able to come after us here. We're a good couple yards from the ground, and even further from where we rolled down from. We're lucky we survived that fall at all."

"Probably better chances than surviving those creatures. What were they, anyways?" Draco closed his eyes again.

Hermione sounded exasperated. "Salamen. Didn't you hear Hagrid earlier? We we're going to visit their village. Apparently, we ran into their hunting party."

Draco laughed harshly. "We were going to _visit_ them? Well, that's rich…"

"He said they don't hunt humans, though…" her voice was troubled, and Draco looked at her again, eyebrow raised.

"Apparently the giant lug was wrong. Big surprise."

"Hagrid may have an unusual affinity for dangerous creatures, but he's never wrong about them," Hermione argued adamantly.

"Really?" Draco asked sardonically.

Hermione looked down at her hands placed on the trunk, and she quietly said, "…Besides, even the text book says so."

Draco looked up at the sky; it had gotten darker, but still no rain. "Well, then I wish we had had both Hagrid and the author of that godforsaken book. Hagrid would be able to get us out of this mess and I'd be able to strangle that author."

"Why not strangle Hagrid?"

"I doubt any normal person could strangle Hagrid… you'd have to have a huge handspan. Plus, I doubt he'd just let me choke him."

Hermione laughed a little, and looked surprised that she had laughed at all. Suddenly, she looked at him as if something just occurred to her, but was silent as she studied Draco. He was unaware of her scrutiny, staring up at the sky with his brow furrowed.

They were silent awhile, then Draco broke the quiet. "You have a plan to get us out of this mess?" he asked, hope in his voice.

"Well, if you still had your wand, I would've sent up a flare. That's what I should've done to begin with. I'm so stupid!" she exclaimed, hitting the trunk with her hand.

Draco glanced back at her again. "You're not stupid. I hate everything about you...except your intelligence," Draco muttered, and Hermione looked at him in askance. Draco shrugged, looking back up at the sky, and finished loudly, "It's your only redeeming feature."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, thank you, but I'm afraid you have no redeeming features."

Draco opened his mouth to respond, but closed it quickly. "Yeah, I probably don't…" he whispered, more to himself than Hermione.

Apparently, she heard him anyways and her eyes widened in surprise. "Listen, I didn't mean—"

Draco cut her off, "Don't worry about it. Hey; try using your wand. Who knows? It might work."

She looked down at her hands, embarrassment in her voice when she answered, "…I'm afraid it'll backfire."

Draco looked over at her, eyebrow raised, "Well, it's iffy, but we don't have any other choice. Suck it up and do it."

"Gawd, I hate you." Hermione said, pulling out the wand.

"Right back at you."

Together, they remained silent in anticipation as Hermione waved the wand, muttering the spell to herself. At first, there was nothing, then a red light sputtered out of it, dimming and brightening as it slowly shot out of her wand to float slowly to the sky. It stopped moving about thirty feet above them, and both heaved a sigh in relief.

"Well, that's a miracle. Now, we just have to wait," Hermione said, putting the wand in her pocket. Together, they waited in silence, staring up at the sky, lost in their own thoughts.

"Draco, do you believe in fate?" Hermione asked, breaking their silence.

"Like, do I believe we would've ended up in this tree no matter what we did?" Draco asked, looking over at Hermione. When she nodded, he elaborated, "Yeah, I do. I think we're all just pawns of fate, and whatever happens, happens for a reason."

Hermione's brow furrowed down at him, as if surprised how he answered. "I don't believe in fate. I think our choices define us, and make us who we are. I don't think there is a 'fate'; I've gone back in time to change things before."

"Really? Well, maybe you were destined to go back and change things," he said, shrugging his shoulders as he looked back up at the sky.

Hermione crossed her arms across her chest, scoffing, "That's insane."

"It's possible," Draco shrugged, pausing before he continued, "Personally, I feel helpless against it. It's like everything's set up for Potter and I don't even get a glimpse at the leftovers."

"Oh, that's bullocks! You could have whatever you wanted," Hermione exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.

"Material things, sure. Not things that matter, like respect. That's something I've never commanded."

"Crabbe and Goyle? They don't respect you?"

"Not so much anymore… besides, they just do whatever their fathers tell them to."

"Well, what about the other Slytherins?"

"They're all mindless, just doing what they're told. It's not me they respect."

"Then, what do they respect?"

"Well, it's not that simple. It's—Hey, those things are coming down here!" Draco exclaimed, looking up at the hilltop in a panic.

Hermione looked up, too, and saw three of the Salamen slipping and sliding down to where they were on the tree. Somehow, they managed not to lose their balance as the moved gracefully down the hill.

Hermione looked up the tree, and asked Draco suddenly, "My gawd, is that your wand?"

Draco looked over at the tree, as well. The trunk ended in a tangle of branches, none of which looked like it could support their weight. However, a dark wandtip stuck out from the tangle. Somehow, the wand must've gotten thrown into the tree they were in. He tried to push himself into a sitting position, but cried out in pain.

Hermione, concerned, pushed him back down, and Draco shook his head, "I don't think I can get to it."

A determined look overcame Hermione's face, and she ordered, "Fine, give me your hand, I have an idea."

Raising an eyebrow in askance, he did as she asked and she gripped Draco's hand firmly. He looked surprised by her grip. His face became panicked when she used his hand to leverage herself into a standing position. "What in hell do you think you're doing?" Draco exclaimed, not letting go of her hand as she stood up so she had to bend over towards him.

She rolled her eyes at him, and explained, "One of us has to get to that wand, before those things get down here. Now, I'm going to have to step on your chest for a minute so I can get to the other side of you."

Eyes still worried, Draco nodded that he was ready, and she placed one foot tenderly on his chest, looked askance at him once more, and he grasped her other hand, shut his eyes and he nodded again. All the breath went out of him as she put all her weight on that one foot and moved her leg to place her other foot beside his head, still holding on to his hands to keep balance. He opened his eyes when she let go of one of his hands, only to quickly close them again with a blush as he saw up her skirt while she moved her foot off his chest and to the other side of his head. She quickly bent to her knees and crawled away from his head, letting go of his other hand.

"Well, that was a rush," Hermione muttered to herself, as she caught her breath, squatting down on the tree.

Draco looked up at her back, and then looked over at the slope. "Hurry, they're coming fast!"

Hermione instantly burst into motion, crawling as quickly as she could up the trunk to its branches. She reached them, took a deep breath, and grabbed hold of one of the branches only to cry out in pain.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Draco called out, only able to see her back from his position.

She didn't respond, just slowly stood up, looking up at Draco's wand in the tree branches. It was intact, just a little out of her reach. Letting go of the branch, her hand dripped blood on to the branches as she reached up for another, and another, ignoring the pain in her hand from the large splinter of wood sticking out of her hand and trying not to worry about how these branches wouldn't be able to support her weight if she got too far from the trunk as she climbed. She yelled in triumph, holding the wand, only for the branch she was using for support to crack loudly and break, causing her to lose her balance and fall. Hermione landed hard on her butt on the trunk, luckily, and sat winded while she looked over at Draco's form further down, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

Just as one of the creatures reached their tree, however, it began to rain. Suddenly, the Salaman screamed, and jumped off from their trunk to the ground gracefully, and disappear under the forestry. They both froze, getting wetter by the moment as the rain drizzled on them; they were too stunned to move as they watched the other two Salamen imitate the first.

"What in the name of all that's holy just happened?" Draco asked aloud after several moments of silence, staring at the spot from where the Salaman had jumped off from their tree.

"I forgot… Salamen think rain is holy," Hermione said, still stunned, Draco's wand clutched in her hand.

"Joy. And I thought rain was only good for ruining Quidditch matches," Draco muttered, looking over at her.

Hermione blinked at him, and began to laugh. Draco, surprised, joined in too; only stopping when he realized Hermione had began to sob uncontrollably.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't think I've ever been more frightened in my life," Hermione said between tears, beginning to get a hold of herself. Suddenly, she looked at her hand, sucked in her breath, and pulled out the splinter, wiping the blood on her skirt.

She looked over at him, and as if she suddenly realized, she said, "You're getting all wet."

Draco looked down at himself and saw that he was indeed getting drenched by the rain. Hermione, wiping her tears on her sleeves, crawled back towards him, placing his wand in her pocket with hers. When she reached him, she placed her hands beneath his shoulders.

"What're you doing?" Draco asked, jerking away at her touch.

"I'm gonna drag you out of the rain before you catch a cold," Hermione said, firmly placing her hand under his arms and crossing them around his chest. Draco let her, stifling his cry of pain when she lifted him up, and then slowly dragged him under the tangle of branches. Hermione leaned against a thicker branch, legs on either side of the trunk, and pulled Draco as close to her as she could to keep most of him under the cover of the branches, his head ending up against her chest.

Draco closed his eyes, shivering slightly. Hermione pulled out his wand, and Draco twitched, "What are you doing?"

"Casting a spell to keep us from catching pneumonia," Hermione muttered as she awkwardly moved her arms around him, so she could wave Draco's wand.

Suddenly, warmth flood through them and Hermione put his wand back in her pocket, and let her arms fall to either side of her awkwardly.

"Your light is still going…" Draco said, glancing up at what he could see through the branches.

"Yeah, I wonder if they'll be able to see us under here," Hermione whispered, looking up at the branches as well.

"Well, they'll certainly come looking for you, and I'm sure we'll hear them calling out for you," Draco said, sorrow in his voice.

Hermione nodded, and they both went silent as they listened to the rain.

Lost in her own thoughts, Hermione jumped when Draco said quietly, "Thank you."

She blinked several moments, as if processing what he said, and then asked incredulously, "What?"

"Don't make me say it again," Draco muttered gruffly.

Hermione blinked again, then uttered, "Why…?"

After another couple moments of silence, Draco answered, "You saved my life, several times already. I… owe you."

"Nonsense. I'm sure you would've done the same," Hermione said, shrugging.

"…I'm not sure I would've."

Hermione blinked again, stunned by what he said. Draco continued after she didn't respond, "What you did took some real courage… if our positions had been switched, I'm not sure I would've been able to do what you did."

"I'm sure you would," Hermione said determinedly.

They went silent again, and Hermione continued to look out at the rain, trying to listen for signs of a search party.

"Why?" Draco asked suddenly.

"What?" Hermione asked, distracted.

"Why do you think I would've done the same you did?"

"Your instinct to survive."

"What?"

"That's all that really drove me to get that wand. It's human nature to strive to survive. Of anyone I know, I think you have it the most. So, you would've done the same," Hermione explained, and they went silent again. Another ten minutes passed as they watched the rain drizzle.

"If…" Draco began softly, but left the thought unfinished.

"What?"

"Nothing," Draco said, trying to avoid the subject.

"No, you're not going to do that for me. We're alone in a bloody tree; just say it," Hermione demanded.

"Well, I was wondering… what it could be like if things were different," Draco moved so he could lean against her and still see her face, making their noses almost touch.

Hermione blinked, surprised at the closeness, but asked, "Different?"

"Well… that's not exactly right. I wonder how things could be different. If I wasn't my father's son, would we still be enemies?"

"I thought you believed in fate."

"Yeah, I do, but it doesn't stop me from wondering."

Hermione was silent awhile, breathing in the rain. Quietly she said, "We're only enemies because you make it so; it has nothing to do with your father."

"It has everything to do with him," Draco said angrily, heated. "All my life, I've tried to impress him, but I've always been a disappointment. It doesn't matter that I make the lives of Potter and his friends as miserable as possible, I still could've done it better. And you!" Draco threw his hands up, and winced at the sudden movement.

"What about me?" Hermione asked, searching his soft blue eyes.

"You're a Mu—a muggle-born and the best in our year. Another reason for my father to be disappointed in me."

"I don't see why you care. He's a Death Eater."

At that, he opened his mouth to retort, but closed it. After a moment, he said quietly, "…Yeah, but he's still my father."

Hermione studied him, and their faces slowly came closer. "Why haven't I ever seen this side of you before?" she whispered, breath coming out heavy.

"You've never been stuck in a tree with me before," Draco said, staring at her lips. Draco began to pull away, shaking his head, "We should—"

However, he was cut off as Hermione's lips met his. It deepened, and her hand wrapped about his head as he turned his body around on the tree. He ignored the pain his back caused him, and cupped her cheek as their kiss deepened. They drew apart, but Draco couldn't get enough of her, kissing her cheek, her neck, her earlobe. Hermione gasped in pleasure, kissing and grasping in the same ferocity.

"Hermione!" a voice called out.

However, Hermione ignored it in favor of Draco, and Draco pulled her thighs up from the tree and she obligingly wrapped them about his waist.

"Draco!" another voice called.

Draco ignored it as well, his hands slipping up her torn shirt.

"Hermione!" and Hermione, gasped as Draco kissed her throat while he unclasped her bra.

"Hermione, get up already!"

And Hermione sat up suddenly, blankets twisted around her legs. She gasped from the realness of the dream, surprised she could still _taste_ him in her mouth, still feel the warmth in her stomach.

"Hermione, come down to breakfast, dear!" Mrs. Granger called from the bottom of the stairs that lead to Hermione's attic bedroom.

"Coming, Mom!" Hermione called, and shakily got out of bed.

She shook her head, pulled off her nightgown. Walking over to her wardrobe, she passed in front of her small wall mirror. Startled by what she saw, she stopped to look into the oval mirror.

"That's not… a bruise, that's a…" Hermione muttered to herself, running a hand over her throat. There was hickey at the base of her collar, right where dream-Draco had given her one.

Blushing at the thought, she went pale suddenly when she wondered what it could mean.

-----------------------

In another, more immaculate home, a mansion in fact, a boy had been woken by his mother's calls as well. He, too, remembered his dream vividly, and could hardly believe that it was a dream at all.

"And why does my back hurt so much?" Draco Malfoy asked, slowly getting up to dress for the day.

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**a/n: **I hope you enjoyed it! Tell me what you think… now. (thinks) Oh, I mean, 'Now, please'.

**aa/n:** I wanted to say thank you to all those that reviewed my little blurb here. You have no idea how much it means to me that people actually like my work. I really appreciate the reviews. I've edited it to make it all grammatically correct (though please forgive me if I was human and missed one… I hate being human) and added a line or two of dialogue, not much else. I made this purely as a one-shot, but since so many out there are demanding more… I've been thinking about adding another chapter, maybe just when they meet again at school, or something (all deserving credit for that idea to shadowfox1186). It's going to be scary… I'm going to have to create a reason for the ending. We'll see… however, you'll have to wait until I've actually managed to kill my writer's block with a spork so I can write something. So, I'll label as 'In-Progress' until I get another chapter up. It could very much be a story all on its own, though, so…

**yaa/n:** If you have any questions about any of my works or maybe want to give me a plot bunny/challenge, visit my forums (from my profile page) and make a new topic in the appropriate forum. (Questions in **Curiosity Never Killed Me** and challenges in **Challenge**** Me.**)


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